Wednesday Watercooler: Week of August 28th, 2013

August 28, 2013August 28, 2013Leave a comment

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances:
if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”
― C.G. Jung

It’s almost been 31 days since August rushed in and it feels like it’s exiting my life is essentially the same fashion; the weeks get shorter, and the weekends – doubly so, but the memories I’ve made over the course of the past month are set to last me for a lifetime. As if it weren’t obvious, I’m beyond in love with the most wonderful man; he makes me feel equal parts sexy, intelligent and hilarious – what a hat trick, right?! To me, the best part about being in a relationship is constantly evolving myself to be the best person I can be; and he completely does that for me. I’ve been all over the map (literally and figuratively) for the past few weeks. I had a master plan to shake things up and I did! I cruised to LA State Historic Park for downtown’s now annual event HARD Summer, I had the luxury of heading to San Diego for an exciting weekend on the sea, I introduced my boyfriend and his housemate to the wonders of the J Paul Getty Museum and for the upcoming long weekend I’m taking my boyfriend home to meet the rest of my family and friends. A whirlwind for sure….but I couldn’t think of a more beautiful one to be stuck in!

Sunset from the J Paul Getty Museum

Before I get to the gusto of this post; I think it’s time for a teensy tinsy confession. The Wednesday Watercooler piece slowly but surely became my favorite post to churn out on a biweekly basis; but as I’ve been honing in on my writing style – and niche – I’ve enjoyed devoting full posts to interesting topics instead of glossing over them like stepping stones on a riverbed. I’ve gone head over heals about Doing It Right, a series of pieces on the way I play – my favorite vacations, staycations and day-ventures with friends; I’ve been creating my own visual quotations and adoring every second of the process – especially the photo editing, which I also do in my Oh, Snap segments; and last but definitely not least, I can’t help but want to write for days about my love of music – whether it’s the EDM scene, new artists, concerts or the community – if I’ve experienced, felt, laughed, screamed or cried about it, I want to share it with the world. In the past year, this blog has catapulted into over 100 followers and 200 unique and, at least in my opinion, well researched posts – all inspired by the effervescent and ever changing world around me. As I’ve developed personally over the past year, this blog has manifested into something bigger than I can imagine – and that’s thanks to my wonderful readers, like you! Anyways, now that’s out of the way – let’s get down to business.

The 50th Anniversary of I Have a Dream

Today is an extra special day in History; if you haven’t seen the Google Doodle or been inundated with posts from your favorite social media outlets – then let me break it to you nicely. 50 years ago today, one of the most influential characters in our Civil Rights Movement gave one of his most famous speeches. There’s a kickass interactive website set to capture and chronicle the voices of today discussing the changes and state of race relations in the United States today. Currently, the site contains almost 100 interviews from people involved in the civil rights movement – from leaders and activists, to elders and clergy members; if they had a voice, they’re telling their stories. If you feel inclined, you can head over to the website and submit your own story commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the event.

Twerk Somethin’

One thing’s for sure about the upcoming Generation – I’m a little nervous about their role models! Working for Disney maybe I’m hyper aware of this – but I’ve seen more than a handful of child stars that were plucked from the masses and put on pedestals completely disengage their fanbase and – essentially – say fuck the media, I do what I want. Currently, the Queen Bee of this scene is none other than ex-Disney star Miley Cyrus. Now, a girl can do what she wants – shake what her momma gave her, twerk sometin’, hang with the cool kids and run rampant on the streets; but in my opinion, once you’ve garned the power of popularity you should also have some semblance of social responsibility – mmm, yeah…right. This past weekend at MTV’s infamous VMA Awards, Miley treated us all to a lesson in Twerking; something I’d much rather soon forget. Between shaking her money maker on Robin Thicke, raging with Borgore and living the good life – I have to say, she’s doing something right; I’m just not sure what it is!

Concerning Consciousness

I’m no psychologist – but I’m earnestly and honestly fascinated by the human mind, how it can be manipulated and how it relates to others; as far as consciousness is concerned, it’s beyond interesting. What makes something sentient and self-aware? How can we possibly assume that because we cannot quantify consciousness in other things – a cat, a rock, a shooting star – that it ceases to exist? As far as humanity is concerned, I believe in a massive,collective unconscious that slowly gets siphoned in and out of reality and in and out of our constrained, physical bodies. But like they say in Fight Club: that’s just me, and I could be wrong. However, Aeon Magazine published a magnificent article about the condition of consciousness and I’m so exited to share it:

“We can’t help it, and the fact that we can’t help it ought to tell us something about what consciousness is and what it might be used for. If we evolved to recognize it in others – and to mistakenly attribute it to puppets, characters in stories, and cartoons on a screen — then, despite appearances, it really can’t be sealed up within the privacy of our own heads.” [Read More Here]

Pendulum Swinging Back Into View

At the beginning of last week I heard maybe the best EDM news of the entire Summer! A few years ago, one of my favorite groups decided they were done with their signature drum & bass sound in favor of evolving their craft the way of the industry – Trap, Dubstep, Drumstep, etc. They went from having 3 members to 2 members, and from being a live group to essentially being a DJ Set. If you haven’t put it together by now, the group I’m talking about is Pendulum – made of the trio Paul Harding, Gareth McGrillen and last but definitely not least Rob Swire; and Knife Party – their offshoot, is made of only the two later members.

In Spring of ’12, right after Coachella, one of my friends and I moseyed over to Funktion Wednesdays at Avalon to see a Pendulum DJ Set; I remember explicitly asking what the difference between a Pendulum DJ set and a Knife Party set was and they honestly couldn’t tell me. Low and behold, three months later Pendulum announced they were going to stop touring together in favor of pursuing Knife Party – much to the dismay of the majority of their fan base, including myself. Now, don’t get me wrong because I love me a bloody Knife Party – but there’s absolutely nothing like a live set from Pendulum! I’m definitely doing my happy dance in eager anticipation of their next album; bring on 2014!!

Who Gave Us Numbers

One of the greatest debates a mathematician or scientist can get into is distilling their craft to this: when it comes to numbers, did we as a society invent them or are numbers divinely created and handed down to us? I’m sure your side of the debate weighs heavily on your views of this world, or even worlds beyond this; but regardless of your stance, the following video from PBS’ Idea Channel asks the simple following question – does math exist; as a statistician, I’m sure you already know my response but I’ll leave the job of answering that question to you guys 😉

[Doing it Right] HARD Summer 2013

August 7, 2013September 26, 20131 Comment

‘It was deep, it was soulful , it was techno, it was disco – a kaleidoscope of sounds.’
A tribal beast of rhythm, a ceremony of sound, the gathering of the spirits that would lift us off the ground,
My vision was so clear, but it was still hazy in my mind;
I must have went to house heaven, because nothing’s that divine.

My Love

This Summer has been one of my busiest and best to date; but between the caliber of friendships that I’ve developed over the past year and the effervescent and ever-evolving music scene in Southern California why would I expect anything less? This past weekend marked the annual mayhem and debauchery that is Hard Summer – one of the only multi-day EDM festivals left in the city of Los Angeles. It’s taken a few days to recover, but somehow and somewhere between the laughs, the stories, the ‘did-you-guys-see-that?!’ moments and our tired joints we’ve managed to detox from one hell of a wild ride and revel in its glory.

One of the best things about the way HARD has transformed in the past year is that you could get fresh and funky one minute and dirty and dubstepping the next; with acts like Disclosure, Alex Metric, Oliver and Claude VonStroke‘s DirtyBird crew – J.Phlip and Justin Martin in the ‘Underground’ tent you could take a break from the ear thrashing bass (not that I don’t enjoy a good rage sesh every now and again) and groove to something different. All in all, we couldn’t have asked for better company, weather, food trucks, people watching and amazing acts to see.

On the flip side my friends and I walked from the event with a few legitimate concerns about the safety of the set-up and layout of certain areas like the location of the food trucks, merchandise tents and the ‘Underground’ stage. The vending areas were in an incredibly central -read: profitable – area and disrupted an otherwise pleasant flow to the grounds. The biggest problem for me was having a tented off stage with closed sides. The Sahara and Gobi tents at Coachella created a similar relaxed, shady atmosphere but the addition of sides on the tent made the crowding unbearable and trampling a definite possibility. I was there for Disclosure and so thankful we escaped – the lack of oxygen was pretty brutal!

HARD works hand in hand with Los Angeles: when you purchase your ticket, you’re granted free access to the Metro systems in the city for the entire weekend. It makes so many things absolutely easier on all of the festival go-ers – driving, traffic, parking, the possibility of accidents and DUIs; the list is endless and we didn’t have to fret about any of it! Once we hit Union Station, we were a mere hop, skip, jump and a ten minute walk to LA Historic Park. On the way there was an amazing vendor handing out deliciously flavored, and might I add free, fruit-infused waters to all of us so we could fend off our impending dehydration – thank goodness!

Especially compared to the last few HARD events I’ve gone to (last year’s HARD Summer + Day of the Dead), the lines were so much more manageable this year and we barely had to wait; the addition of metal barricades between the lines was absolutely necessary and completely welcomed. After a friendly little frisk by the security team, we were on and through to the other side: lights, camera, action – here we go!

I had-had-had to make sure we were inside by the time Keys n Krates hit the stage and rightfully so – I guarantee you one thing, they are part of an EDM revolution with the likes of Modestep, Infected Mushroom and the old Pendulum live sets. There’s just something so damn magical about live instruments – especially the evolution and pairing of them with modern forms of electronics and technology. It’s giving me a braingasm just thinking about it! We bounced around between the stages essentially the entire day, because we have severe forms musical ADD and after Tommy Trash tore the city a new one the main stage never really sounded the same.

Day 2 was a whole horse of a different color when compared to the first day; chalk it up to people on Sunday needing to go to work on Monday (or, conversely, people on Saturday who planned on partying for 36 hours straight) but the vibe was a lot more low key and I heard lots more people interject with a “Sorry!” or an “Excuse me…”. It was like we all got some unwritten memo about chilling out, and we did. If the aggression of the first twelve hours dissuaded anyone from coming back to another HARD event I surely hope they let the second day change their minds. Like usual, I came out of this festival with more friends than I went into it with; but, I’ve been doing one thing differently as of late that I hope everyone employs at festivals sooner or later: turn off your phone. Not just the mobile network but the entire thing! Sure, in emergencies whip that shit out and find your passe but while you have one: enjoy the moment and focus on the friends that are next to you instead of concerning yourself with people that aren’t around. You’ll find your entire experience so much more enjoyable; trust me!

Justin Martin

Miau!

Zedd

For an excellent way to bounce through your day, peruse these fine sets from my favorite acts at Hard Summer; enjoy!

[The Audiofiles] Required Listening for HARD Summer, Day 1

July 29, 2013September 26, 2013Leave a comment

This morning I woke up, looked at my calendar and almost freaked out because this is the last week of July; I’m sure I’ve said this a few times already this year but where the hell has the time gone?! Granted, I’m far busier than I’ve ever been: last November I started volunteering at an organization called the Kitty Bungalow: Charm School for Wayward Cats and was quickly named the Board Liaison for the organization. During my time there, I lost track of a few very important mantras – like love yourself first, be cognizant of the way people treat those who are inconsequential to their lives and that with great power comes great responsibility. Thank goodness I have an amazing boyfriend, support system and family to keep me in check – I was losing perspective, soul and my positive perspective; there was something sucking at my soul and I needed to breathe and figure out why. Ultimately, I realized what was going on in that pretty little mind of mine – I was placing my dreams on the back-burner so I could go and chase someone else’s, and it was causing me the most strange kind of anxiety: that my dreams weren’t _____ enough to chase. And just fill in the blank with whatever you will: good, valid, amazing, wonderful, solid, proactive, achievable, doable. After a few weeks of minor anxiety attacks and frustrations, I realized that what I was forgetting/neglecting/ignoring was the most important part about these dreams: they’re mine.

I took a deep breath to re-evaluate my life’s trajectory and then I made a move: I left the organization. I love cats, I love people and I love making lives better – but it’s difficult to remain affable and altruistic when at the end of the day I’m unable to help myself. Beyond my dreams being deferred, the kicker was that owner of this amazing foundation built on the idea of saving feral cats couldn’t figure out how to treat people. I took a moment and mediated on an adage from an old friend – you can’t win’em all, but you can surely throw the game; so, after toying around with e-mail drafts for two weeks I finally took the plunge and sent in my resignation letter.

It hasn’t even been a month since I’ve sent it – twenty days to be exact – but in my adult life, I can tell you one thing for sure: my soul feels free again. I’ve had the chance to experience, embrace and cultivate so many new and exciting feelings within my heart, soul and head. Each day, I fall more in love with my soulmate – the term ‘boyfriend’ doesn’t do it justice and the English language lacks the capabilities to aptly describe the way I feel inside. He’s my biggest cheerleader, a shoulder to cry on and the best support system – and friend – a girl could ask for. We’ve been able to spend more time together – and productive time at that: laying down the groundwork of our goals and converting them into possible realities. He makes me believe – not just in myself, but in my dreams and the time I’ve invested into them; it’s surreal and I can only hope everyone finds this type of counterpart in their life.

What’s even better is that my dad came into town this weekend and I got to introduce my favorite men to each other – it was so much fun! We ate – oh, we ate – well, had wonderful conversation and I even got to introduce my father to Danny’s mom – best relaxing weekend I’ve had in a while! On Friday we headed over to the Farmer’s Market at the Grove to have some Brazilian BBQ and Pinkberry; on Saturday we got our Eggs Benedict on at an amazing place called Tres at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. They had feta foam on top of the eggs; just process that for a second and try not to drool on your keyboard. During the day, we had an adventure to Universal Citywalk to catch Despicable Me 2 in 3D – if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out. One of the cutest movies I’ve seen in a long time and probably the best sequel ever. Finally, we ended the day with some stellar Sushi and conversation. Sunday morning was for the parents meeting – and that went phenomenally. We all took a walk down to the Farmer’s Market and got some crepes – both sweet and savory – and the Waffles Versaille. I was tres full! Last but not lease we rounded out the weekend with some Abbey Road on vinyl – because why not!

Speaking of being a perpetual five year old trapped in the body of a 28 year old, there are certain things that will simply put never ever lose their meaning to me. There are little bits and pieces of my reality that I covet and keep close to my soul; n no particular order: bubbles, cotton candy, sprinklers that create rainbows, tanlines, live music, miniature bottles of liquor, costumes and fabulous people. There’s something uniquely special about each one of them to me, but if you throw them all together and put a little magic in it – you essentially get a music festival. And speaking of, we’re currently gearing up for one in LA right now! HARD Fest is proud to present HARD Summer – coming up at LA’s State Historic Park. Last year’s event was absolutely ridiculous and this year’s shouldn’t be any different! I’ve compiled a playlist of the Day 1 artists to get down to and I’ll hit y’all with a Day 2 playlist later this week =) enjoy!

Knife Party – Internet Friends
Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
Dog Blood – Next Order
DJ Fresh – Gold Dust (Flux Pavilion Remix)
Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes
Major Lazer – Bubble Butt f. 2 Chainz
SBTRKT – Wildfire
Disclosure ft AlunaGeorge – White Noise
TNGHT – Acrylics
Tommy Trash – Monkey In Love
Kill the Noise – My World
RL Grime – Pockets
Alvin Risk – SKYCLAD
Destructo – Higher
Oliver – Night is On My Mind
Duke Dumont – The Giver
Will Sparks – Ah Yeah (TJR Edit)
Alex Metric ft Oliver – Motion Study
Keys n Krates – Dreamyness

The Audiofiles: The Post-Miami/WMC/UMF Rx

March 25, 2013August 14, 2013Leave a comment

After being in the Electronic Dance scene for the better part of the last decade, I have one small confession to make: though we get epic onslaughts of DJs, Festivals and all night dance-a-thons in Los Angeles, there’s just something about going to Miami for Winter Music Conference and Ultra that I just have to do. I’ve had friends go for the past three years and tell me that it was the time of their life – problem is, living in LA, the mecca of most things EDM in America it’s incredibly hard to justify spending all that money for a weekend in Miami. But, One of my best friends went with her boyfriend and I had the pleasure of living vicariously through them and their friends all weekend; and I have to say, I’m insanely jealous! Now that I’ve gone through the live streams, the sets, the Instagram feeds and through Facebook I feel the need to take part in this epic debauchery; thank goodness there’s always next year!

There are a few great blogs that capture the moment and the music of festivals in an A+ fashion – specifically, Dancing Astronaut – and they definitely didn’t disappoint when it came to Miami Music Week – here are some of my favorite sets from this past weekend; they’re doing a proper job of getting me through my day so hopefully they’ll do the same for y’all.

Enjoy! ♥

P.S. Looks like dates are already set for Ultra next year – March 28-30; you can bet your bottom bassline I’ll be thre!

Hot Since ’82 Pool Party:

SubFocus:

Umek:

Krewella:

Knife Party:

Bingo Players:

Adventure Club:

Porter Robinson:

Kaskade:

Deadmau5:

Ferry Corsten:

Armin van Buuren:

Doing It Right: HARD Presents – Day of the Dead

November 8, 2012August 14, 2013Leave a comment

I think I’m finally on the verge of recovery from last weekend’s shenanigans – in typical Bouncy Kitty fashion, I more than enjoyed myself at the Music Festival last Saturday. Sure, there were lines and there was pushing, it took forever to get in and then there were a clusterfuck of people – but that all comes with the territory of festival dwelling and was more or less expected. Between the chaos and the camaraderie, I had such an amazing night with some of my closest friends – here are some of the highlights:

First of all, not to toot our costume horn but beepm’f’in’beep, my friends! The other weekend a zany, but plausible idea popped into my head in the middle of a brainstorming sesh: My friends and I were discussing our habitual Halloween “fall back” costumes, and a few of us admitted it was actually our “Plan A” every year and mine just happens to be a kitty cat (shocker…). Well, because we were going to ‘Day of the Dead‘ I thought it’d be fun to incorporate some morbidity into our costumes – so, obviously, I opted for “Dead Cat”…which turned into “Dead Animals”…which somehow turned into “Hey, guys! Let’s be ROADKILL!” I knew I loved my friends before, but I adore them 150% more because they went along with my ridiculously awesome idea.

Sexy Pieces of Dead Ass

The next highlight of the evening was getting a chance to finally see Miss Maya Jane Coles in action – as much as this was a personal highlight, it doesn’t begin to tell you how effing excited all my friends were. She was the sole reason they bought their tickets and fended off the damn bike fences – hands down, one of the best deep house sets I’ve heard all year and according to my friends it was 110% completely worth it.

One thing I love about using LA State Historic Park as a venue is the ample stage space for ostentatious set-ups. The Earstorm Stage where Knife Party ripped the festival a new one was no exception – it was huge, fabulous and stocked to the brim with more lights and lasers than I could count.

EARStorm Stage: Knife Party, Kill the Noise, Tommy Trash, Zane Lowe….

Last – but certainly far from least – I FINALLY SAW KNIFE PARTY! When Knife Party came into the scene last year I didn’t know how to feel or what to expect from their evolution as a group – but the more I listen to them, the more enthralled I am by what they produce: this melodic dissonance that I simply can’t get enough of.

Knife Party – Save the World

Knife Party – Internet Friends

The Audiofiles: Required Listening for HARD’s Day of the Dead

October 29, 2012August 14, 2013Leave a comment

Halloween is a magical time of year for most people but once you’ve been to Santa Barbara to celebrate the holiday Gaucho style, there’s really no turning back. Instead of just one day of tricks, treats and costumes you can spend the better half of the month in costume. Now that I’m a little older and a tad more mature, I don’t feel the need to party the way I did for it in college. I still have a hard time saying no to fun, but I’d like to think that I pick and choose my battles a little more wisely at this point.

Like I always rave about LA, there are so many – almost too many options when it comes to getting down with your bad self. I tend to be swayed by the social factors – like which of my friends will be there and who would be down for group costumes; but it also comes down to taste in music, how far you’re willing to travel and preferred venue – house party, festival or club. And since I’ve moved to LA, I’ve basically covered all of the bases. My first year, I went to Monster Massive, Hard Haunted and spent the week in Santa Barbara; in 2009, I stayed in to study for the GRE and hang out with my kitties; in 2010 I went to Avalon for Dirty South and last year it was a combination of a great house party in Newport thrown by close friends and seeing Nero slay it at the Music Box. And finally this year I’m going back to my festival roots and hitting up HARD Presents Day of the Dead.

I have somewhat of a lovehate relationship with festivals – they’re crowded, the lines are terrible, lots of pushing and sound systems failing, the beer cups are small, the drinking area is in an undesirable location and lets not even get started on the bathroom situation. But then, there’s this glorious flip side: magical experiences with new friends and old, ridiculous people watching, amazing costumes, incredible performances, surprise guests and celebrity sightings. Over the past few years I’ve been known to say the phrase “Never, ever again…” while leaving but I just keep coming back for more. I went to HARD summer and had a fabulous time so I figured why not give it another whirl – the Metro is free to ride and runs until 3am, perfect for us nocturnal kittens who thrive on the freaks coming out at night.

To better prepare myself for next Saturday’s mayhem, I’ve made a little playlist of the artists I want to see next weekend. Let the countdown to Day of the Dead begin!

Tracklist

Knife Party – Internet Friends
Justice – Genesis
Zeds Dead ft Omar Linx – You and I
Major Lazer ft The Partysquad – Original Don
Blue Foundation – Eyes on Fire (Zeds Dead Remix)
John Dahlback ft Erik Hassle – One Last Ride (Tommy Trash Remix)
Tiesto vs Diplo – C’mon
Jack Beats ft John B – All Night
Dillon Francis & Kill the Noise – Dill the Noise
Massive Attack – Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)
Moguai & Tommy Trash – In N’Out (Tommy Trash Remix)
Jack Beats – Get Down
Bo Saris – She’s On Fire (Maya Jane Coles Remix)
Chris Isaak – Wicked Games (Soul Clap Remix)
Clockwork – Airflow
Diplo ft Lazrdisk Party Sex – Set It Off
Dillon Francis – I.D.G.A.F.O.S.
Zedd – Stars Come Out (Dillon Francis Remix)
MGMT – Electric Feel (Justice Remix)
Knife Party – Centipede
Major Lazer ft Nina Sky – Keep It Going Louder
Florence + The Machine – Spectrum (Maya Jane Coles Remix)
Felix Cartal – Love (Clockwork Remix)
Knife Party – Rage Valley

Doing it Right: HARD Summer 2012

August 12, 2012August 14, 20131 Comment

One of the best parts about living in Los Angeles (and trust me when I say there are a lot of great things about living here), is that there is never a shortage of fun to be had – especially in the summer months. The sun is bouncing down on the city, and the city bounces back with some crazy fun parties located anywhere and everywhere: hotel rooftops, parking garage rooftops, warehouses in the depths of downtown, and sometimes even a Tiki Boat!

Just last weekend, HARD Fest hosted HARD Summer at LA State Historic Park in downtown Los Angeles. What’s typically a relatively quiet sanctuary in the middle of a bustling city was transformed into a menagerie of colors, glowing objects, and kandi covered ravers. The festival lit up the downtown skyline for two days from the early evening deep into the night and boasted top notch acts in multiple genres. A definite perk of HARDsummer was that riding the Metro was free; no one had to worry about traffic, parking or who would be tasked with driving us home.

First, let’s get real for a second, and I love getting real: the lineup for the first night was less than impressive; however it was also a lot less packed. The crowd was easier to navigate and even though I lost my phone, I didn’t lose my friends. Secondly, let me tell those of you that have yet to attend a multi day festival: it is aggressive! Admittedly, my exhaustion after day one was mostly due to running from stage to stage in search of a danceable beat – but there were a few DJs that made my heart happy and made faces in the crowd melt.
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